Taino words in Dominican Spanish

[NALs]

Here are some Taino words that are still alive in Dominican Spanish. Notice, some words have been officially incorporated into Spanish due to a lack of Spanish word for that particular item (ie. Ceiba, Hamaca, etc). Other words are use interchangeably with their Spanish counterparts (ie. Bohio and Casita, Mucaro and Buho, etc). Also, some words are exclusively used in the DR, Puerto Rico, and Cuba (ie. Katey, Jibaro, etc).

Also, keep in mind that often many Taino words are used as idiomatic expressions and/or idioms.
Also, this is only a small selection of Taino words used in Dominican Spanish.

Aji = n : Hot Pepper.

Anacaona = n : Golden Flower.

Areito = n : A Traditional Dances with spoken historic songs.

Arepa = n : Corn Cake.

Bara = n : Kill or Death, also a whip.

Barbacoa = n : A Stand, a four legged stand, made of sticks, used in the cooking process of roasting meat.

Batata = n : Sweet Potato.

Bohio = n : small square house (typical countryside homes).

Cocuyo = n : Small Lighting Bug, with a blueish light, they come out at night.

Colibri = n : Hummingbird.

Cana = n : Any number of Palmetto trees (A type of palmetto are the palms that line the malecon of Santo Domingo)

Ceiba = n: Silkcotton Tree (These are gigantic trees visible in the Cibao valley especially, many are upwards of 300 years old!)

Canoa = n : Small Boat.

Cacike = n : Chief.

Catey or Katey = n : Disturb, bother.

Cibao = n : Stone Mountains (today Cibao is the name of the valley, not the mountain range which Cordillera Central)

Cojiba = n : Rolled Tabacco

Cucubano = n : Large Lighting Bug.

Choreto = n : Abundance.

Guaraguao = n : Red Tailed Hawk.

Guama = n : Large Shade Tree, a fruit Tree.

Guagua = n : Bus or Car, a form of transit.

Guajey = n : Gord Scraper also known as a Guira.

Guayo = n : Grater.

Hamaca = n : Hanging Bed.

Hutia = n : Rat like roden, native to Hispaniola.

Iguana = n : Large Green Lizard.

Jaiba = n : River Crab or Freshwater Crayfish River.

Jicotea = n : Land Turtle.

Jibaro = n : Man of the Forest.

Manati = n : Sea Cow.

Mabi = n : A Fruit tree.

Maraca = n : Gord Rattle, Musical Instrument made of Higuera gord.

Macu = n : Big Eyes.

Maco = n: Frog.

Maguey = n : Big Sun, a Drum. (See the word Mayohuacan).

Manicato = n : A Bold person, valiant of a good heart.

Mime = n : Little Fly.

Mucaro = n : Owl.

Naiboa = n : The poisonous juice of the Yuca brava.

Nana = n : Girl. (Dominicans often say Nena as oppose to Nana).

Sabana = n : Big Valle or Large Plain.

Sanaco = n : Clown, Dope or Stupid.

Tabacu = n : Tabacco.

Tiburon = n : Shark.

Yagua = n: A small palm native to Hispaniola.

Yabisi = n : Tree.

[aegap]

Conuco
Yola

Both strike as Tainoan[(?)he he] words.

[NALs]

Originally Posted by aegap

Conuco
Yola

Both strike as Tainoan[(?)he he] words.

Conuco is Taino, means plot of cultivated land or small farm.

Yola, I'm not too sure if Yola is Taino in origin, most likely but could be African or Spanish.

I will check.

[Mirador]

Originally Posted by Nal0whs

Conuco is Taino, means plot of cultivated land or small farm.

Yola, I'm not too sure if Yola is Taino in origin, most likely but could be African or Spanish.

I will check.

Yola from the English word "yawl" (a ship's small boat)

[aegap]

Interesting! please tell us more, Mirador...

[NALs]

Originally Posted by Mirador

Yola from the English word "yawl" (a ship's small boat)

Thanks!

Add any words I may have left out from the list...

[aegap]

According to the RAE:

yola.
(Del fr. yole, de or. germ.).
1. f. Embarcación muy ligera movida a remo y con vela.

[mkohn]

Just wondering what would be the origin of 'guagua' since they probably weren't invented in Taino days?
Useful list.
mkohn

[NALs]

Originally Posted by mkohn

Just wondering what would be the origin of 'guagua' since they probably weren't invented in Taino days?
Useful list.
mkohn

The truth about the word "guagua" is that nobody truly knows where it came from.

More often than not, its included in Taino vocabularies because its similar to the multitude of Taino words, in other words, blends in very well.

However, guagua is also used in other Spanish speaking countries, but it has different meaning.

Perhaps, this is speculation here, the word was of Taino origin, quickly became part of the Spanish being used by the Conquistadors and they dispersed the word to other regions of the Americas, with time changing the meaning.

But, that is only speculation and one thing I don't like to do is speculate, but take it for what its worth.

In any case, I include it on this list because its often cited as a Taino word.

[andrea9k]

According to RAE's dictionary

guagua1.
(Etim. disc.).
...
3. f. Cuba y R. Dom. Nombre genérico de numerosas especies de insectos hemípteros, pequeños, de color blanco o gris, que atacan a numerosas plantas, especialmente a los cítricos, y llegan a destruirlos.
de ~.
....
guagua2.
(Del quechua wáwa).
1. f. Á. Andes. Niño de pecho. En Ecuador, u. c. com.
2. f. Perú. Pan dulce con forma de niño.

For Cuba and Dominican Republic guagua means a family of insects that destroy citric trees (??news for me) no reference to its taino origin nor to buses or cars.

For the Andean countries guagua refers to lil babies. Its origin is stated as a quechua word (one of the ancient languages of the Andes region in south america).

Anyway, even when the dictionary does not state the word as meaning a bus... nobody that has lived here can deny guagua also refers to a dominican bus.

Jess